Sunday, May 22, 2011

Happy Sunday everybody! As we all prepare our homes for annual Spring cleaning, the requests for cleaning up brows has been high on my list as well! I think it's only appropriate as the appeal for a fresh-faced look is more and more alluring as the weather warms up.

As I mentioned near the beginning of the video, the perfect brows depends on the shape of your own face. The key is to look at proportions as show in this example (image credit Anastasia):

What is the Golden Ratio? If you want the full-on mathematical explanation you can see the Wikipedia here, but basically it has been used in both art and nature as an aesthetically pleasing proportion.

And here is some sweet gif action of the golden ratio for brows on my face:

1. The beginning of the brows goes from a straight line from the side of your nose
2. The arch should be from the tip of your nose through your pupil
3. The end is a line from your outer nose through the outer eye corner

Generally, following these key points will help to guide a basic shape into your brows, especially if you have vaguely shaped brows as I do.

If you are just starting out on your brow journey, an easy first step is to simply clean up the stray hairs under your natural brow shape only. I especially recommend this if you are in high school or younger because over-plucking can be the worst at this stage in life, in my opinion! I am a strong believer that one's natural brow shape is usually almost always the most flattering and just plucking beneath the brows can brighten the face but also help to retain this youthful look. This brings me to my next list.

Here are some really, really important tips for brows:

1. Don't Overpluck! Nobody likes sperm-brows, nobody! (Okay, probably untrue but nobody should.)
2. Pluck both brows, back and forth, at the same time and check the whole face as you go.
3. Don't fill in brows too dark because it will look harsh on your face. Dark-haired ladies can go 1 to 2 shades lighter than their hair color and blondes should go 1 to 2 shades darker.

I hope this video tutorial was helpful and, as I said in my video, this is not necessarily how everyone everywhere should do their brows but this is a system that I believe in and has worked for creating clean, natural-looking brows that are flattering and compliment the eyes.

Let me know if it worked for you, or if you have any extra brow tips to share in the comments!

Thanks for growing your brows out shaggy for us : P This was very helpful. My brow hairs are LONG and I need to go do the cuticle scissor trim now. I actually found brow razors at Sasa that work ok but I am eager to try the method you showed with the brushing down and then trimming.

fantastic tutorial, I really enjoyed the video!!! Very helpful and clear, thank you!!!! I also love your eyebrow shape and how you keep them nice and full, but with an arch, I like mine like that, too! ^_^ They look beautiful and natural and that's really something. Thank you!! :3 Your tutorial will come in handy next time I pluck. :))))

The cleaning and shaping was really helpful since I've had an awful time trying to do mine. I normally rely on my sister to do it. But the problem now is coloring. There's a lot of talk with brunettes/ebony and blondes but it's very hard for red heads. Granted my hair has gotten a little dark as I've gotten older but sometimes it's still hard to find the right shade. Right now I'm using the Lancome eyebrow liner in Mahogany. That's just as close as I can get :(

thank you!I love your make up today!!very natural and light.. :)I think this one is my favorite!!!would you be doing tutorial for today's make up?I'm a mom with a young kid, and i stoped wearing makeups, because it is almost impossible to do them with a youngster..Can you do a tutorial for someone like me? Mom-on-the-go?

Thank you for this and all your other tutorials. I really appreciate them esp. being asian also. Your techniques are really excellent!

You've mentioned using Darkness eyelash glue in the past. I love, love using the glue but I have a really hard time cleaning my false eyelash after removing it from my eyelid. Do you have any tips on how to remove the glue from the fake lash? Removing the lash from my skin is not a problem.

Thank you also for your Heart 2 Heart video. It takes a lot of courage to do it and being a lifelong sufferer of hormonal acne, I know how brutal it can be. I tried a bunch of stuff but in the past few years, I've had success visiting Face Reality Acne Clinic in San Leandro, CA. They do long distance consultations. If you are curious, do check out the Yelp reviews and their website. Honestly, my skin has never been better.

Jen, thank you so much for this brow tutorial!! I find it very helpful! Beauty blogs usually don't focus on brow shaping. Most of the time they only mention which brow pencil they are using - that's it. lol. But hey, wasn't it a hard time not to pluck your eyebrows every time you look at the mirror? XDDDD

Nice! Thank you for the great visuals. I have some hairs on the inner corner that always grow in the opposite direction of my other hairs that I always have some trouble with. I wish I could make them grow the other way!!

Hi! I'm a newbie and am loving this blog for tips and reviews. I'm also Korean American and my eyebrows are incredibly similar to yours (2 directions, super long, not much of a shape in my case) so whenever I read the magazines, I thought I'd never be able to find any resemblance of an arch on my own face. Thank you so much for this - I'm anxious to get started. (and yes, at 26, that's late to get started.. seriously had no idea what to do and was scared haha)